A 12 year old boy in the Central Highlands has been honored with the "little warrior" title for saving four children aged between 4 and 11 from drowning last month, local newspapers reported Friday.

Pham Quang Vinh, a seventh grader from Lam Dong Province, saw the children struggling in a lake and saved them one by one.

"After pulling three of them out of the water, I was so tired, so I threw a string for the other to hold."

But that child was also exhausted and Vinh had to swim yet another time, the boy told news website VnExpress.

He said all five of them were crying out of fear.

Vinh's father Pham Tran Cong Tuan said Vinh had rushed home, crying about the four children.

So he and some neighbors ran to the lake, where three children were crying loudly, one of them vomiting water and blood, a 4-year-old girl named Dieu was unconscious. The adults managed to revive her.

Tuan said Vinh had learnt to swim when he was eight and has been practicing regularly. "But I never imagined he could save people. I'm very proud of him," the father said.

Lam Dong authorities have granted Vinh the "Little warrior Tran Quoc Toan" certificate of merit. The award is named after a warrior under he Tran Dynasty, who sacrificed his life at 18 while fighting Mongol invaders.